5 Ways to Read The Bible

To some, the Bible is an ancient text. To me, it’s the living word of God. It’s a story about the love of God. It taught me who God is. 

It tells of how God created us, and saved us, in-spite of (and because of) all of our flaws, again and again, right until the Saviour came down once and for all, to die for us because he loves us (he comes back though).

Parts of it are literal and parts of it are metaphors, sometimes it’s hard to know which is which. So, before getting into it, pray.

A quick breakdown.
  • The Old Testament: Stories we can learn from about ancient heroes of the faith (fully flawed people). There’s also poems, songs, laws, prophecies…never have I read anything that has so many different forms of literature in one place.
  • The New Testament: The story of Jesus, life as a Christian and Revelations, about the end times (it has dragons).
Here’s a few ways to start:

1. Start at 3 different points in time (easy and usual way).
Expect to read 3 chapters a day, one from each section and work forward. 
Time: Usually 5-10min depending on how fast you read.
  1. Start from MATTHEW 1. Jesus’s story is essential to understanding the rest of the Bible. 
  2. Then read GENESIS 1. Right from the beginning of creation, through the stories of ancient heroes that you’ll remember for the rest of the journey.
  3. Then read PSALMS 1. Songs and poems from various people, often King David, as they go through the ups and downs of life and lean on the God that always holds them. 
I used to read Psalms in the morning (quick and uplifting) and Matthew and Genesis at night (stories and fun, very flawed characters). 

2. Bible in a Year Plan. 
Follows a similar format to above but it’s already structured and you can tick it off as you go. Some come with explanations. 
The one I’ve been doing (again and again) since 2017 is on YouVersion ('The Bible with Nicky and Pippa Gumbel, Classic Version, 2023'.
https://www.bible.com/en/reading-plans/34130). 
NB. Don’t worry if you miss days (or weeks) in between, you can shift the dates..as you can see I’m still in 2023…

3. Read book by book. 
This flows well and you get to finish a good chunk of the story with each book. If it’s the first time you’re reading the Bible, this is a good way to start.
The order I would recommend:
  • Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John (the story of Jesus from different angles)
  • Genesis + Exodus: creation, ancient heroes and God leading his people through a very long (40 year) journey through a wilderness where we learn with them about various facets of human nature and God’s much better nature.
  • Proverbs + Ecclesiastes: words of wisdom, and universal truths.
  • Acts and Romans. 
  • Psalms
  • Leviticus - 2 Chronicles.
  • 1 Corinthians - Revelations (the rest of the New Testament). 
  • Ezra onwards, the rest of the Old Testament.
4. The New Testament then The Old Testament. 
This is how I did it when I was little. Some parts of the New Testament references people or stories from the Old Testament that you might not know yet.

5. Chronologically from Genesis 1. 
If you don't know the story of Jesus already, I wouldn't recommend this way. The story of Jesus is so core that you should ideally read this first, it helps understand the purpose of the other, sometimes complicated parts. Chronologically reading the Bible can help you understand the order of events in some sections, but in others the books aren't in the order they were written. 

The Bible is the no.1 most influential book ever written and the greatest literary masterpiece. It holds the Guinness world record for the best selling book of all time. 

These recommendations will serve you whether you’re reading for academic purposes, literary interest or faithful obedience. It’s easy to get lost. Let me know if you need a hand or clarification about anything. If you have a church, parents or a pastor, they can surely help!

Other resources I’ve found reliable to understand and remember the key stories and concepts:
  • John Piper is a pastor who has articles with explanations and videos where he dissects parts of the bible to help understand it better in Desiring God. https://www.desiringgod.org/
  • The Gospel Coalition, a group of pastors coming together to write about pertinent issues relating to Christianity. Sometimes they go through passages in the Bible here, but it’s more about the overarching concepts and issues. https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/

Would love to hear about any other resources!

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